Realisation
by xfirefly9x
Summary: Mal/Inara. Something becomes clear between Mal and Inara. Set immediatly at the end of 'Our Mrs Reynolds'.
1. Realisation Hits

"Mal! Wait!" Inara watched nervously as he stopped and swung back around towards her. A smug expression was plastered on his face and he looked at her, waiting expectantly.

"Yeah?" He asked, casually.

"I…I didn't let her kiss me." Inara stammered. She felt her heart flutter heavily in her chest and cast her eyes down to the floor. She couldn't look Mal in the eye.

"Wha-?" Mal grunted.

"Saffron didn't kiss me."

"Huh. So you didn't fall an' you didn't let her kiss you. Then how-?" A confused expression washed over him as he tried to make sense of it all.

"You're saying that she didn't kiss you – you kissed her?" Mal smirked.

"No!" Inara glared at him. Honestly, he could be so clueless sometimes!

Mal shot her a grin and returned to his thoughts. He fell silent for a few moments.

"Not sure I understand. Would you care to enlighten me?" Mal dragged a hand through his hair and walked over to the chair, where he sat down.

Inara remained standing and mentally scolded at herself for putting herself in her present situation. If she had just kept her mouth shut, things would be going on like normal, like they should. This should _not _be happening. Inara turned to Mal.

"Do you really want to know?"

Mal nodded, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth at her discomfort.

"Yeah, o' course. That's why I was askin'."

"Right." Inara began pacing the room, panicking. Her usual composure was gone and it was obvious that her nerves had the better of her despite her intense training.

"You okay?" Mal asked. Inara heard a trace of concern in his voice. She swore at herself, knowing that Mal had noticed her slip.

Ignoring the question, Inara continued pacing and tried to word an explanation in her head. Coming up with nothing clever, she sighed. Mal studied Inara carefully as she paced, as if it looking at her would reveal the truth. Nothing became any clearer though, so he turned his gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back up.

Inara glanced over in his direction at that exact moment and their eyes met. Unspoken truths became apparent as they looked at each other. Everything that had been unsaid came clear. Mal suddenly pulled away as realisation dawned on him.

"Huh."


	2. You Didn't Fall

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far:) This was originally going to be a one-shot but I changed my mind cuz of you guys! Hope you like it! **

Mal walked back to the couch and dropped into it, a stunned expression crossing his face. He could've sworn that Inara had just confessed to him that she'd kissed him when he had been unconscious.

Mal put the pieces together and slowly came to the conclusion that Inara, if she were telling the truth, would've had to kiss him on the mouth to have been affected by the narcotic compound that Saffron had used on him. There was no other way she could've been knocked out by it.

Of course, it could've been a dream, or a hallucination or something entirely different. Mal wasn't sure what to believe. He decided to play it safe and keep his mouth shut, so turned his gaze to the china tea set, which was laid out on the table in front of him.

Inara watched Mal carefully from the other side of the room. She only looked over at him when she was sure he wasn't paying attention to her – she didn't want him to catch her staring, so it seemed like the thing to do.

Like Mal, Inara was unsure how to act. She had just come clean about how she felt for him, even if it was in an indirect way. It wasn't something that was just going to fade away and be solved straight up.

Inara let her thoughts drift and studied Mal's expression. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get a read on him. He was so different to other men and something about him was off. Maybe it was his odd sense of nobility despite his status of petty thief, or maybe it was the way he always managed to start an argument with her and fire her up so much. She didn't know.

There was nothing Inara could do, but wait for Mal to tell her how he felt, or walk away as he usually did.

"So…" Mal braved the silence that had fallen and attempted to appear casual. He almost succeeded.

"Yes?" Inara smiled shyly at him, relieved that he hadn't barged out. She waited for him to continue.

"You didn't fall." Mal finally managed. Inara's smile faded slightly. It seemed likely that they were about to fall back into their usual state of denial.

"No."

A few moments passed. Mal looked down at his feet and chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, before continuing.

"I'm glad."

Inara's eyes flicked up to meet Mal's and a surge of renewed hope shot through her.

"Really?" An unstoppable smile spread across her face. It seemed to be contagious because Mal's face mirrored hers.

"Really."

"So, what happens now?" Inara inquired. She was determined to get things right with Mal and even her job, being a Companion, wasn't going to stop her. They had been dancing around each other for too long.

Mal shrugged. His guard was down – Inara could tell by the way Mal was looking at her. A huge lopsided grin lit his face and his eyes shone with something that resembled happiness. Or was it something more?

Mal pulled himself to his feet and moved close enough to Inara that she could feel the warmth of his breath lightly dance across her cheek.

"Guess we'll find out soon." Mal looked Inara in the eye and unspoken emotions were shared. With a gentle squeeze of her shoulder, Mal was gone.

**A/N: Any suggestions for what happens next? I have a few ideas, but I'm not entirely sure, so all help is appreciated! Thanks:)**


	3. Stress And Comfort

Several days had passed since Mal and Inara's relationship had begun to change. They had kept up their usual bickering (it came naturally), so none of the crew were any the wiser, except River, of course. She didn't say anything, but every time she passed by one of them, a mysterious grin appeared on her face.

Inara was currently sitting alone in her shuttle, a cup of hot tea on the table in front of her. Wisps of steam carried the scent of it around the room – it was some kind of herbal tea. Inara took a sip of it before closing her eyes to reflect. She had just reached a deep-meditative state when the clanking of footsteps jerked her mind back to reality.

Like always, there was no knock. Mal walked straight in and stood a little awkwardly by the shuttle door.

"What brings you here today, Mal? Everything okay?" Inara watched him, a little concern creeping into her voice. Something wasn't right.

"Yeah, everything is great." Mal answered sarcastically. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, letting out his frustrations.

"We're taking a stop-over at Persephone for a few days. Apparently, there's something wrong with the engine and there's new parts being needed. Gonna blow a hole in our savings!"

Inara smiled at him, sympathetically.

"You don't have any appointments you need to be at, do you?"

"Oh, no. It's fine. I haven't gotten around to scheduling any yet."

"Good, good." Mal brushed his hair back, clearly stressing.

"I can help, you know. If you need a loan…" Inara watched as Mal sighed and felt a twinge of guilt at her offer and their differing incomes.

"No. Keep your money." Mal dropped into Inara's couch, like he had so many times before. His breathing slowed after awhile and his anger visibly left him.

"It's just that we haven't had a decent job in weeks. Getting low on funds for Serenity. And a crew's gotta eat…" Mal sighed.

"I'm sure something will come up soon." Inara moved over and sat next to him. Without thinking, she reached for Mal's hand and squeezed it gently.

Mal looked up at her and caught her eye.

"Thanks. For listening and all." He smiled grimly.

"Anytime." Inara moved a little closer to Mal. He let her rest her head on his shoulder and they sat there silently, taking comfort in each other's presence.


	4. Still In The Air

**A/N: **This chapter took me a little longer than normal - I had a minor case of writers block. Sorry! I'll update again in the next few days probably! Lemme know what you think plz! )

Later that day, Mal woke to the smell of burning incense. He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked a few times before looking around and taking in his surroundings. For several moments, he wracked his brains as to where he was, feeling rather disorientated. Finally, it hit him. He was still in Inara's shuttle. And, he was not on the couch as he last remembered, but the bed.

Suddenly wide-awake, Mal hurriedly got to his feet and glanced around for Inara. She didn't seem to be in the shuttle. And for some reason, the shuttle door was closed. Questions flooded Mal's mind and he shook his head in an attempt to clear them away. His attempt failed, but he was able to shut off from the questions for a while, and turned his focus to his current situation.

Somewhat relieved that Inara was nowhere in sight, Mal headed for the door, intending to follow the first plan that had popped into his head – escaping with what dignity he had left. He was too slow, however.

"Mal?" Inara stepped out from behind the curtain that separated the main room from the shuttles' controls.

"Inara? Uh…what jus' happened?" Mal swung around to face her.

"You fell asleep." Inara started to explain.

"Yeah? Well, that doesn't explain why I jus' woke up on your bed!" Mal argued, raising his voice.

"I had to make a trip into Persephone this morning – I couldn't wake you up, so left you on the couch. As for how you got on my bed, I have no idea. Do you sleep walk?"

"Sleep walk? How should I know?" Mal glared at Inara and looked back around at the door.

"Haven't been in the position for anyone to let you know?" Inara asked, amused.

"Actually, no. Not in awhile."

Mal stormed angrily over to the door. He moved his hand towards it and was just about to open it, when Inara issued him a warning.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Mal paused, his hand wavering above the handle.

"And why would that be?"

Inara raised her eyebrows, sardonically.

"We're still flying, Mal. Still in the air." Inara watched as Mal digested this new information and smiled to herself.

"Huh. Didn't realise." Mal slowly became aware of the low hum that the shuttle was emanating and the gentle drone of the engine.

"So, who's driving this thing?"

Inara rolled her eyes, walked over to the table and picked up a cup of tea. Without so much as a glance in Mal's direction, she disappeared from view once again, taking a sip of the drink as she went. Mal stared after her, bewildered.


	5. A Job And A Secret Revealed

"So, what did you do in Persephone, anyway?" Mal questioned. He had remained in the shuttle for several minutes after his encounter with Inara and finally decided to join her out the front. Inara flicked several switches and adjusted their course, not answering.

"Business?" Mal pushed.

"It was a personal trip." Inara turned her attention from flying, back to Mal.

"Personal, huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Inara teased. She smiled mysteriously at him.

"Hey! That's not fair! I told you stuff before! The least you can do is return the favour! What were you doing there?"

"Nothing too interesting, actually. Just stocking up on some supplies – tea, incense and more parchment. Oh, and I found you a job." For a few moments, Mal gaped open-mouthed at Inara. Inara watched him, amused.

"You found us a job?" Mal finally asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes, Mal. I found you a job. It's through an old acquaintance of mine, Dave Harding. He has some cargo that he wants to move off world. He's offering quite a large sum for it."

"By acquaintance, do you mean…?" Mal dropped off and let his eyes fall to the floor.

"No. Dave isn't…never has been…one of my clients." There was an awkward silence. "I knew him in school, before I went to the Academy for Companion training. We were…good friends back then."

Inara turned away from Mal to avoid his questioning gaze. Her focus back on flying, she fought with herself to keep her guard up and to not let her emotions show.

"I get the feelin' you're not telling me something." Mal paused. "You were more than just good friends, weren't you?"

When Inara didn't answer, Mal reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.  
"Inara?"

Inara trembled slightly and pulled her arms around herself. She could _not_ let Mal see her cry!

"You okay?" Mal asked, clearly concerned.

Inara blinked furiously several times and finally turned back to Mal, a fake smile on her face. It was obvious though, that something was wrong. She was holding something back.

"Inara! You don't have to hide from me!" Mal frowned at her sudden distance.

He pushed her to the side gently, leant over the controls and put the shuttle on autopilot. Taking Inara by the arm, he led her back into the confines of the shuttle.

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked, once they had sat down on the couch.

Inara trembled, still without an answer for Mal. She felt her control sap away and in just seconds, she broke down in tears. Sobs wracked her body and she found herself leaning against the back of the couch for support.

Mal reached for her, pulling her into his arms and stroking her hair comfortingly. "It's okay." For several minutes they remained there, Inara crying into Mal's chest and him providing her with much needed solace.

"You can tell me anything, you know." Mal whispered to her after awhile. Inara took a deep breath and prepared to tell him the truth.

"Dave…was my first…" She stuttered. "He…he's the reason I came to Serenity."


	6. Control And Reasons

**A/N: Thanks for all the shiny reviews! They're what keep me going with this! (I'm the type that doesn't work on anything unless there's someone waiting on it or if there's a deadline!) Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on Inara's past relationship with Dave? I have no idea myself yet! All help is greatly appreciated! xfirefly9x**

"Dave…was your first?" Mal asked confused. "I thought you said he wasn't a client."

"He wasn't." Inara started. She faltered when she looked up and met Mal's gaze. He stared down at her baffled.

"He wasn't a client? Then how –?" It took several seconds for him to comprehend what she was saying. "Oh."

An awkward silence fell. Inara gazed helplessly at her feet, wishing that she had kept her guard up earlier and shown no emotion when Mal had asked how she knew Dave. If she had managed to do that, she wouldn't be in her current predicament. At the moment, anything would be better than the situation she had found herself in.

Focusing on her Companion training, Inara tried as hard as she could to reinforce her defences. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and then another one and another one. Keeping her gaze as steady as possible, she glanced over at Mal who seemed to be feeling equally unsettled.

Mal was putting all of his energy into studying the wall off to his right, as if his life depended on it. It was looking extremely shiny and new with the red satin that was decorating it and Mal had decided that it was definitely something that needed considering.

It was a good distraction from what Inara had just confessed to him.

"So, how is he the reason you came to Serenity?" Mal finally asked, a little reluctantly. He tore his eyes away from the wall and forced himself to look Inara in the eye. He could tell just how troubled she was by the pained expression that glowered back at him and found himself regretting his question the moment it came out of his mouth.

"I…he…I can't explain it." Inara began pacing the room, not in the least caring now about how she was behaving. Companion rules and self-control never stayed around long when it came to Mal. In fact, when she was around the Captain all her carefully put-up shields fell away. She couldn't explain why – it just happened that way.

Another silence fell, this time as Inara pondered on what to tell Mal and how much he needed to know. Mal waited wordlessly, a grim expression on his face. He watched as the Companion paced in front of him, restlessly and grimaced inwardly at his part in her pain.

Finally, Inara paused wearily and turned around to face Mal, looking him in the eyes. "Can we not do this?" She chewed at her bottom lip. "I just…can't."

Mal nodded slowly, letting her know that he understood. "Yeah, sure. Right."

He let his gaze linger on Inara for a moment longer before he returned to the couch, sighing. "So, tell me about this job."


	7. A Job Description And Avoidance

**A/N: Another chapter! And I probably should've studied for block exams instead of writing this! Anyways, I hope you like it and please review!**

Inara smiled gratefully at Mal, silently thanking him for dismissing the topic. She just couldn't handle him interrogating her about her and Dave's past relationship – at least not now, anyway.

Letting out a deep breath of air that she didn't realise she had been holding, Inara joined Mal on the couch. She flattened her black skirt out and prepared herself mentally for his inevitable reaction to her job offer, and then took a deep breath.

"The job is really simple. And it's an illegal one, too." Inara added with a small smile.

"Illegal, huh? I thought you didn't approve of that sort of work." Mal grinned. "Change your mind, did you?"

Inara rolled her eyes good-naturedly and turned her mind back to the job. "What you have to do is…" She stopped, suddenly remembering about the files and blue prints that Dave had given her. Shooting Mal a sympathetic glance, she stood and moved over to her bed.

"I'll just be a minute." She explained, pulling an old leather trunk out from under her bed. She opened it and removed a collection of silks, placing them neatly on the bed. Turning back to the trunk, she fiddled with the base and a concealable portion fell out of it, revealing the files.

"Shiny drawer thing you've got there." Mal noted, teasingly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were hiding something." He stopped and thought for a moment about his last words. "You _aren't_ hiding anything, are you?"

Inara smiled. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know!" She teased, returning to her place on the couch.

Grinning, Mal repositioned himself, moving a bit closer to her. "Yeah, I sure would!" He played along, hoping somewhere in the back of his mind that things could change between them and be easier. He was disappointed by the Companion's next move.

Inara, suddenly serious, pulled away and gestured at the papers. "We should…uh…get back to this." She said, quietly. "There's a lot of planning still to be done."

"Right." Mal nodded. "Let's get back to the planning, then."

"Okay, good." Inara shuffled the papers and selected a few particular ones that Dave had shown her earlier at her stopover at Persephone. "Have a look at these." She handed Mal the files, her hand accidentally brushing his.

Mal ignored it, but a shiver shot through Inara that she couldn't deny. "Mal –" She started nervously, looking up at him. "This…this thing that we have. What is it?"

Mal turned to her, taken aback at her forwardness. "I don't right know." He answered, sincerely.

"It's just that I'm a Companion. Nothing can ever happen between us. Nothing like what I think has been happening." Inara explained. "I need to know what you're thinking – "

"I'm thinking nothing. There's nothing _to_ think about." Mal replied, his expression hardening.

"Oh." Inara dropped her gaze to the floor, somewhat wounded by his remark. She continued staring at the ground for a while longer before finally turning back to the files once again.

"We should get back to work." She said, sadly.


	8. Trust Issues And An Argument

**A/N: I was going over what I've written so far and a realisation hit me (no pun intended!). Anyway, in one chapter, Inara said that the job was illegal, but in the next she said it was legal. That obviously wouldn't work, so I had to go back and rewrite the last chapter. So, here it is! Hope you like! It's somewhat longer than the last version, too!**

Mal sighed and opening the files that Inara had given him, began to study them. There were several copies of the blueprints of a mansion and some random pages of information that told him things such as security measures used, where the guards patrolled and more importantly, the times of their shifts and when they changed over.

"This job looks too good to be true!" Mal glanced up at the Companion with a small smile. "Maybe you should line up jobs for us more often!"

"Yes, Dave told me it was a good deal," Inara agreed. "And thanks for the job offer, but I'm not sure that I'd be able to keep up with how busy I've been lately. I have a lot of appointments with clients that I have to keep." She reached over and poured herself a refill of tea that she prepared earlier, taking a sip of the lukewarm liquid.

"Huh," Mal scanned the rest of the information and once finished, slipped the papers back into the file and handed it back to Inara. A thoughtful expression crossed his face and he leant back on the couch quietly and rubbed absentmindedly at his temples.

"Well?" Inara finally asked, breaking the silence. She watched as Mal rested his hands back on his lap and chewed at his bottom lip hesitantly before responding.

"You sure this guy can be trusted? I mean, it's been how long since you were… uh...friends? It could be a trap!" Mal interjected, his expression hardening considerably. "I just don't want you gettin' yourself in the way of trouble," he added at Inara's furious glare.

"Fine, Mal. If you don't want to trust him, don't! But I do trust him and you're going to have to deal with it!" Inara stood and moved behind the curtain to the shuttles' controls, locking onto Serenity and preparing to rejoin the rest of the crew. Mal followed.

"Hey! I was just sayin'! Don't get all tetchy with me now!"

"Don't get all tetchy?" Inara's voice was venomous. She glared at Mal as the shuttle moved towards its position on the side of Serenity. "Don't tell me what to do, Captain. You're not in charge of me and you never will be," she glared at him icily.

The shuttles' engine clicked off.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Mal argued defensively, his voice somewhat louder now that he didn't have the shuttle's drone to compete against. "I meant to say that –"

"Get out," Inara interrupted. She stood up and gestured at the door. "Now."

Dropping his head, Mal left Inara's shuttle.


	9. Head On Collision

Mal stormed towards the mess, muttering heatedly under his breath about how stubborn a certain Companion was. _Why couldn't she just act like everyone else for once? Why couldn't she drop her Companion training and just be herself? _It didn't make sense.

He was so caught up in his ranting that he didn't see the doctor come around the corner and was too late to try and stop. They collided with a heavy thud that flung Mal awkwardly against the wall and Simon to the ground.

"Uhnph!" The air went out of Mal's lungs as his jaw connected with the cold metal of Serenity's wall. The impact of his fall forced his mouth shut suddenly, and his teeth cut roughly at his tongue, causing blood to fill his mouth.

He tasted copper as a trickle of blood ran down the side of his mouth and gagged. The blood splattered over the floor and Simon moved quickly out of the way, pulling himself up.

The doctor had managed to sustain a very minimum amount of injuries and at the most would probably only suffer from various bruises and scratches.

Mal, however, found that he was much worse off and not just because of his bleeding mouth. His vision blurred, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand to alleviate an itch and pulling his hand away, brought it up to his face revealing blood.

As if this was an invitation, the red liquid began to trickle more freely down the side of his head from a wound he had received from the wall. Mal rubbed at his head again, smearing the blood down the side of his face.

"Mal?" Simon asked, worriedly. He moved closer to the Captain and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Groaning softly as the pain finally hit him, Mal propped himself up against the wall, his head drooped lightly to the side.

"Doc? I think I'll be needin' some help here –" he started. He moved his head around to face Simon and then everything went black.


	10. To The Infirmary

"Zoe! Jayne! Mal's been hurt!" Simon hurried into the cargo bay where the Captain's first and second mates were hauling boxes of goods into the various hiding places on Serenity. Their last heist had gone particularly well and a considerable amount of crates remained in view.

"What's the problem?" Zoe asked, her attention jumping straight to the situation. Dropping the crate she'd been holding, she walked over and met him at the bottom of the ladder leading up to the catwalk.

"Mal's hurt. He's unconscious and I need help getting him to the infirmary!"

"Where is he?" Zoe asked, steadily. She looked to be prepared for anything.

"He's in the hall leading to the mess," Simon explained, turning and moving back towards Mal. Zoe joined him immediately and had passed him in seconds. A determined expression crossed her face and she was clearly very concerned about the well being of their Captain.

"Right then," she muttered in reply, moving out of sight.

Simon paused, noticing that the mercenary hadn't made any attempt to move. He glanced over at him. "Jayne? Are you coming?"

"Just a sec – gotta put this crate back in and I'm there," Jayne grunted, hauling the box towards

"C'mon! We need to hurry!" Simon snapped. The mercenary looked up, taken aback at his severity.

"Comin'!" Jayne dropped the crate, swearing and joined the doctor. They headed to the hall where Mal was and joined Zoe, who was crouching over his limp body.

"Okay, let's move him down to the infirmary," Simon instructed Zoe and Jayne. They positioned themselves around Mal and lifted him slowly. "Gently!" Simon barked at Jayne. He nodded in reply.

A few minutes later, after moving Mal quite awkwardly to the infirmary bed, Simon leant over him to check his vitals.

"He gonna be okay?" Zoe enquired, not taking her eyes off Mal.

Simon sighed. "I don't know."


	11. Regret and Worry

**A/N:** **Finally, another chapter! I had a lot of trouble with this one so that's partly why it's late. I think I had about 5 false starts with it before it got to this. I'm sorry it took so long anyway, and hope you're still hanging in there! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. If it wasn't for you guys I'd have left this fic as a another oneshot! At the moment, this is the longest thing I've ever written and kept with.**

Inara was still sitting in her shuttle, running the spiteful words she'd said to Mal over and over in her mind, when Wash called her on the intercom system. "Inara?" he started, sounding much less cheerful than the Wash she knew.

"Yes?" she asked, carefully controlling her voice so that it remained as steady and casual as possible. She put up her walls of defences as she had been taught while training on Sihnon and forced herself into a blank, impassive mood.

"We're making a quick stopover planet-side. Might not get to your appointment in time, sorry," Wash explained quickly and quite detachedly. He was obviously concentrating on other matters. Flying Serenity, presumably.

Inara sighed. She'd forgotten all about the appointment that she had made. It had been one she'd normally have looked forward to, as well. What with all the distractions, namely Mal, it had slipped her mind.

"What's Mal done this time?" she asked the pilot wearily. She imagined it had something to do with the argument they had just had, having no idea on the turn of events after Mal had left her alone in her shuttle.

Wash was silent for a moment. "You haven't heard?" he finally said. It was a statement rather than a question and the tone of his voice spoke of defeat and concern mixed with sympathy, something that Inara found all kinds of unsettling. Wash was rarely anything but cheerful.

"I haven't heard what?" she enquired nervously. She chewed on her bottom lip as Wash went quiet once again.

"It's Mal," he explained slowly. "He was hurt in that last upthrust. Simon's down in the infirmary with him now; said he needs more supplies for Mal, thus the stopover." He paused and waited for Inara to reply.

His efforts were wasted though. Inara was already on the way out the door. "Inara?" Wash's voice crackled uselessly from the intercom to the empty shuttle. "You there?"

Inara felt a wave of nausea wash over her as she half-walked, half-ran down the catwalk towards the infirmary. Her last words to Mal had been so…hurtful. And now this had happened. Why did things have to be so damn complicated between them all the time?

As she reached the hallway just before the infirmary, she slowed down a little to catch her breath. However much she tried though, she couldn't fight back the fear that had taken hold of her. She couldn't help thinking that something was terribly wrong.

Heart beating furiously in her chest, Inara took the last few steps towards the infirmary and walked in…


	12. A Conversation With The Doctor

**A/N: Thanks for all the shiny reviews! I wouldn't have gotten this far without them! Anyway, here's the next chapter. I've been home sick today, so managed to get it written up. Hope you like!**

When Inara saw Mal's unmoving figure on the infirmary bed, she didn't know what to think. Was he drugged? Was he badly injured? Would he be okay? She honestly couldn't tell. Her fear for his safety left far from sated, she slowly made her way to his bedside and gingerly took his hand in hers.

His hand was cold; too cold. Inara dropped it and took a few involuntary steps back towards the door, a sudden urge to turn and flee before she completely broke down coming over her. Just as she was about to follow her instincts, Simon hurried in with an armful of medical supplies.

He nodded grimly to the fearful Companion and busied himself with setting his equipment down on the bench before turning his full attention to her.

"How's our patient doing?" he asked her carefully. He fiddled with the buttons on his shirt absentmindedly as he spoke; a gesture that Inara recognised immediately as a bad sign. If Simon was as nervous as he seemed, it was more than likely that he was in possession of a whole lot of bad news regarding Mal's condition.

"I…uh…I don't know," Inara admitted. "His hands – are they meant to be that cold? They feel like ice!" She felt something catch in her throat and swallowed it back down forcefully before looking up to meet the doctors' eyes.

Simon stared back at her for maybe half a second and then without a word, turned and moved over to see for himself. Checking Mal's temperature manually first, by feeling his forehead, and then with a thermometer, he studied the man carefully as he lay on the bed, taking care to examine all of his vitals again in the case that he had missed something earlier.

Reading the temperature off the thermometer to himself, Simon shook his head. "Well, he doesn't seem to have a temperature," he confirmed slowly. He paused and stared thoughtfully into space for a moment. Breaking from his reverie after what felt like ages to the Companion, he added, "He had some ice in here before. Maybe it was that. I'm sure he'll be fine though." He glanced around the room awkwardly, as if pondering what to say or do next. Inara stepped in for him.

"So, how long do you think it'll be before he wakes up?" she asked quietly, letting her gaze move from the doctor down to the silent form of Mal. She wrung her hands nervously and began to chew at her bottom lip.

Simon just shrugged. "There's no way to be sure," he told her.


End file.
